Pilots vote 95% to authorize a possible strike

[aloysius1992]

Today, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, voting closed for the Strike Authorization Ballot. Out of 5799 eligible voters, 5590 or 96.4% cast their vote. Of those who voted, a resounding 5295, or 94.72% voted IN FAVOR of providing strike authorization to the Delta MEC.



This is an incredible change from 10 years ago. It used to be that Delta pilots thought they were part of the management team.

Yes, 80 k (First Officer, 10 years Delta plus 16 years Air Force)is a decent salary but if you chose the career based on earning more and have settled for 80 and know your pension is going to be turned over to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation maybe you also wouldn't be willing to take an additional cut.

Maybe they could increase pilot pay by a stipend for those willing to do double duty as a Federal Flight Deck Officer. The Air Marshalls are paid to protect the flight from being turned into a weapon of terror, don't have to pilot and are paid 80-100 k.

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

And not worrying about a strike possibility is why i bought tickets on Southwest for May.

 

[bicker]

Delta's pilots need to wake up and smell the coffee, and accept the fair offers being made by the airline.

 

[brentalex]

Delta's pilots need to wake up and smell the coffee, and accept the fair offers being made by the airline.

its always the employees fault. How about corporate america looking at themselves a bit. Does the ceo of a company really need to make 100 times what the employees make? How much have the executives of delta taken out of that company? How much are they giving back? If the pilots who probably are the highest paid 'employees' are being asked to take 100,000 a year, how much should the ceo get? 10 times that or a million a year? Bargaining involves both sides working together. Assuming the pilots give back to the company, will they get rewarded by the company should delta turn itself around? Or will the ceo get a huge reward for working miracles? It's not just the pilots responsible for delta's problems, yet everyone seems to want to blame them. Leaders of delta and many other companies have been taking so much out with their inflated paychecks that they need to be asked to give back as well.

 

[kjs1976]

Website with full article
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DELTA_PILOTS?SITE=NWCN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

We fly this Sat and Tues....should I be worried? It says they have UNTIL 4/15 in arbitration to accept/reject the pilot's contract so does that mean we're ok? They have to set a strike date also, which I assume would be after this week? Confused and just want to go to Vegas this weekend!

 

[deltachi8]

its always the employees fault. How about corporate america looking at themselves a bit. Does the ceo of a company really need to make 100 times what the employees make? How much have the executives of delta taken out of that company? How much are they giving back? If the pilots who probably are the highest paid 'employees' are being asked to take 100,000 a year, how much should the ceo get? 10 times that or a million a year? Bargaining involves both sides working together. Assuming the pilots give back to the company, will they get rewarded by the company should delta turn itself around? Or will the ceo get a huge reward for working miracles? It's not just the pilots responsible for delta's problems, yet everyone seems to want to blame them. Leaders of delta and many other companies have been taking so much out with their inflated paychecks that they need to be asked to give back as well.

Supply and demand. CEOs get paid what they do because the market dictates that. Thats not tto say that managemnt is innocent, not at all, but executove salaries are what they are because of market factors.

The piolots only leverage is putting the airline out of business which means they lose everyting. So, what is their choice? Lose a percentage and stay employed or give it all up and look for a job someplace else?

And 95% strike votes mean nothing, ANY union rep worth his salt can get a vote to turn out anyway they want.

 

[SeaSpray]

I've been following this entire Delta/strike issue because we have tickets on Delta for our Disney trip in mid-May...

I have no idea how much the Delta management makes per year, so I can't really comment on that. But I have to say, I am shocked to find out that pilots only make $80K a year!! I mean, that is not a huge salary, by *any* means. And without pilots, there'd be no airline.

I hope they don't strike, but wow....I can't believe they only make $80k.... Almost everyone I know has flown on an airplane, and we trust our lives to these people... I don't think it's right to lower their salary to less than $80k...

Is management also taking the same pay cut as they want the pilots to take???



Just my opinion... I don't want to debate... I'm sure there really are valid
points to both sides.

EDITED TO ADD: I just read the entire article from the link above and saw this: "The company says the average earnings of pilots last year who worked the full year was more than $157,000. The union says line pilots made on average $151,000 last year. Both the union figure and company figure exclude management pilots, though the union figure also excludes instructor pilots and certain other pilots."

Ok, so $151K is MUCH better than $80K. But still, I'd like to know how much the men in the suits make, and how much of a pay cut they're willing to take......

 

[disneyfan61]

I leave on 4/20 & I'm very worried!!!

 

[bicker]

Delta's pilots need to wake up and smell the coffee, and accept the fair offers being made by the airline.

its always the employees fault.

No, not always. It is, however, the case this time.

How about corporate america looking at themselves a bit.

They have. Your points don't amount to more than a few hours more of life for the airline... a veritable worthless drop-in-the-bucket for a struggling carrier. Penny Smart and Pound Foolish, as that approach ends up chasing away the good management talent.

It's not just the pilots responsible for delta's problems

It is today, as they threaten to strike, if an impartial judge decides that Delta can no longer afford to pay them what they have been paid. Just think about that a minute: This isn't Delta deciding to pay the pilots less. Rather this is an impartial judge deciding that. So, in essence, the pilots are against fairness. Why are you defending that?

 

[bicker]

1000 of the "men in suits" just got a 100% pay cut.

 

[SeaSpray]

1000 of the "men in suits" just got a 100% pay cut.

Well that's a start! The men in suits aren't the ones who'll be flying the plane that I hope to be on in May...

Don't misunderstand me; I am not "for" or "against" either side here... I honestly don't know all the facts... I just hope, as probably everyone does, that a FAIR deal can be made between the pilots and management. I'd hate to see Delta dissolve into nothing.

 

[disneytraveler]

I bought a Delta ticket months ago for my wdw trip in september from the Delta /song site. And i also bought a travelocity ticket for a trip to Cinn in july. What should i do now if Delta strikes?

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

Supply and demand. CEOs get paid what they do because the market dictates that. Thats not tto say that managemnt is innocent, not at all, but executove salaries are what they are because of market factors.

If that was the case it would be justified. But when was the last time you saw an ad for a CEO?

Instead actually there are incestuous relationships among Board members and executives across companies. Check out who the board members are of your favorite Mega Merger and trace the connections!

 

[dpayne1969]

I bought a Delta ticket months ago for my wdw trip in september from the Delta /song site. And i also bought a travelocity ticket for a trip to Cinn in july. What should i do now if Delta strikes?

the same as the rest of us NOTHING i dont think there is anything we can do really just sit and pray.I am hoping for a ding fare to come out on SW so i can jump on that and just have that as a back up plan at least.Then if Delta does nothing then great i will have vouchers to fly SW at a later date!!It is very frustrating for us all.I wish us all luck as we are Disney Fanatics!!!!1

 

[deltachi8]

If that was the case it would be justified. But when was the last time you saw an ad for a CEO?

Instead actually there are incestuous relationships among Board members and executives across companies. Check out who the board members are of your favorite Mega Merger and trace the connections!

Do you actually think major companies advertise for a CEO in the (Insert City Name Here) Daily News? Hot Jobs?

Of course not. People don't apply for CEO jobs at that level, they are solicited. Headhunters find them.

There are very few people qualified to be a top executive at a company like Delta and they are paid accodingly.

That is not meant to be demeaning of pilots, flight attendants or CSRs...but there more plentiful the supply of a particular group of skilled employees, the lower the pay rate (in general, of curse when a union is involved that can articially inflate pay levels because they are contractually set).

In this day and time, given the market conditions, Delta Pilots are paid too much.

 

[aloysius1992]

Delta's pilots need to wake up and smell the coffee, and accept the fair offers being made by the airline.

Fair isn't the point in DHs situation.
If by presidential decree all pilots were paid similarly it wouldn't affect his decision. He isn't deciding based on an abstract fairness.

Rather it is whether the rewards make up for the risks.

When he accepted a job as an airline pilot he knew some of the drawbacks to a commercial aviation career. Others were only learned with time on the job.

He thought the sacrifice of time at home with family would be compensated for by being able to pay for our childrens college education at a public university.
That is no longer the case.

He thought he would have a generous retirement.
That is no longer the case.

He thought the physical risks were worthwhile to support his children.

But those risks have been accumulating. It is not just mechanical failure, which will increase with maintenance outsourcing. The risks also include premature death from solar radiation, mistakes due to fatigue from wildly fluctuating shift work across time zones, the opportunity to bring the latest epidemic home and the heightened terrorist risk.

The last recurrent training simulator situation was a bomb on board.

For us this is the sticking point. No more paycut is acceptable for the risks and time away from home of this particular job.

 

[disneytraveler]

the same as the rest of us NOTHING i dont think there is anything we can do really just sit and pray.I am hoping for a ding fare to come out on SW so i can jump on that and just have that as a back up plan at least.Then if Delta does nothing then great i will have vouchers to fly SW at a later date!!It is very frustrating for us all.I wish us all luck as we are Disney Fanatics!!!!1

Not much of answer for me but i know i am in the same situation . I may need to make alternate planes soon probally near my same times .I wonder
if i should book Jet blue or something .I am not to keen on all the flight stuff.
My delta ticket to Wdw is nonrefundale according to the receipt.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Fair isn't the point in DHs situation.
If by presidential decree all pilots were paid similarly it wouldn't affect his decision. He isn't deciding based on an abstract fairness.

Rather it is whether the rewards make up for the risks.

When he accepted a job as an airline pilot he knew some of the drawbacks to a commercial aviation career. Others were only learned with time on the job.

He thought the sacrifice of time at home with family would be compensated for by being able to pay for our childrens college education at a public university.
That is no longer the case.

He thought he would have a generous retirement.
That is no longer the case.

He thought the physical risks were worthwhile to support his children.

But those risks have been accumulating. It is not just mechanical failure, which will increase with maintenance outsourcing. The risks also include premature death from solar radiation, mistakes due to fatigue from wildly fluctuating shift work across time zones, the opportunity to bring the latest epidemic home and the heightened terrorist risk.

The last recurrent training simulator situation was a bomb on board.

For us this is the sticking point. No more paycut is acceptable for the risks and time away from home of this particular job.

To some extent, I agree that flying a commercial aircraft is a job that requires extreme flexibility and ability to sacrafice certain activites to perform your job.

But take a minute and reflect on those "others" who are flying with your husband, the flight attendents. These people have been forced to take paycuts, just like your husband, and they dont make 1/3 of what your husband does. They face the same danger in the skys that radiation, time zones and terriorist threat.

On that note, Im not trying to say that pilots should make what flight attendents do, dont get me wrong, but like bicker said, the pilots need to wake up a look at whats on the table...Is it worth possibly loosing a job over? I guess thats the question Delta pilots are going to ask themselfs when they walk the line at CVG, ATL and SLC...

 

[DaveO]

When the airlines were making record profits pre 9/11 the unions and pilots put the squeeze on the legacy carriers for big pay raises. They even had strikes to accomplish this. Now when the airlines are making no money they do not want to give it back.

BTW .. I do not want people to lose jobs, suffer, and miss vacations.... but I do hope they strike and go under. In the long run the taxpayers will not have to pay and the airline industry will be stronger.

Dave

 

[Disneyjosh229]

In the long run the taxpayers will not have to pay and the airline industry will be stronger.

Dave

Of course this is after the 50,000+ Delta employees find a job

If Delta goes down, our economy will take a plunge toward negativeland...